Supervisors

Research Summary

The main aim of the project is to investigate the environmental context of late Pleistocene and early Holocene hunter-gatherer landscape practices in the southwest Italian peninsula during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition, through the analysis of wood charcoal macro-remains. A key focus of my research will be to assess the impact of climate-induced changes in past vegetation, and how these affected the evolution of the regional landscapes and subsistence strategies.

The project will integrate the direct evidence obtained about prehistoric vegetation from the study of anthracological remains with high-resolution palaeoclimatic datasets. The GIS-assisted reconstruction of prehistoric woodland vegetation catchments and vegetation management strategies will also contribute to the creation of more accurate predictive models for locating Palaeolithic and Mesolithic sites in this part of the Mediterranean. This is especially pertinent for the coastal areas of the southern Italian peninsula where such research is very under-developed. Together these integrated approaches will lead to a deeper, data-informed understanding of the environmental history and landscape evolution of the central Mediterranean at a critical juncture of its prehistory.

Three cave sites from which archaeobotanical assemblages are currently under analysis have been selected for inclusion in this study: Grotta del Romito, Grotta della Serratura and Grotta d’Oriente.